Play Of Shadows
by AuroraAura11
Summary: Shadow vanishes shortly after the Soleanna incident. The question is, how is Shadow's disappearance linked to a young she-hog Sonic meets on a cruise two years later? R&R!
1. Prequel

**Disclaimer: I, AuroraAura11, DO NOT own anyone from this fanfic except for 'Haze'. All other Sonic characters are copyright of SEGA & Nintendo. /Note: All characters in this chapter are a year older than their normal age (E.g. Shadow - 16, Sonic - 16, Knuckles - 17, Tails - 9, etc.).\\\**

**Summary: Shadow vanishes shortly after the Soleanna incident. The question is, how is Shadow's disappearance linked to a young she-hog Sonic meets on a cruise two years later? R&R!**

**Play Of Shadows: Prologue**

The monstrous deity known as Solaris screeched in agony as a cluster of boulders struck it on target, courtesy of Super Silver. They were only two hits away from victory! He switched out with Super Shadow, said hedgehog powering up & unleashing another Chaos Barrage on the weakened god. Glowing red spears fired their way towards Solaris with tremendous speed, exploding on impact. A deafening shriek forced itself from Solaris.

"This is it, guys!" Super Sonic announced. "The final blow!" Shadow & Silver nodded in sync.

Down on a floating plateau, the others were watching & waiting in anticipation. Elise clasped her hands together in prayer, Tails & Amy following suit.

Concern filtered through Rouge as she noticed Shadow hold his right side tenderly. He was the primary target of Solaris, seeming to pose more of a threat than the other two hedgehogs. In a turn of unfortunate events, he had miscalculated his dodging & almost lost consciousness from the sudden blast of energy, leaving himself vulnerable. Without Sonic yanking him out of harm's way, he would have been pulverized by the oncoming energy ball. In result, he was left with one nasty wound that won't stop pulsing new blood. But regardless of his current situation, he carried on, Sonic's request to stop fighting falling on deaf ears. It was hard to understand for them how Shadow could still go on, but that's when they realised just how tough & determined he really was.

The golden hedgies surrounded Solaris & on Sonic's signal, circled it in a peculiar way, Silver flying around it while Sonic & Shadow rounded it horizontally, like how three electrons would circle an atom. They slowly sped up, creating some sort of contained vortex which knocked Solaris off-balance, confused it. Finally, they curved inwards & rammed into the sun god from different angles with all their strength. Solaris screamed as it perished in a blinding, white light. Everyone covered their eyes…

When the light disappeared, they unveiled their eyes to see only the golden hedgehogs. No Solaris. The triad landed safely on the plateau just as they began changing back. Suddenly, that same light surrounded Sonic & Elise, although it felt harmless. Soon, they faded away with the light too, parting with the remaining others; Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, E-123 Omega, Silver & Eggman. A portal then opened up before them all, their exit. Not a word was spoken between them. Silver jumped in first, then Eggman, Amy, Tails & Knuckles. Team Dark still remained there…

"**Agent Rouge, Shadow, would you like me to escort you back to G.U.N?**" Omega asked. Rouge nodded, glancing over at the black hedgehog whom was currently inspecting his wound.

"Yes, both of us", she replied. Shadow looked up at her, frowning. "You're not going anywhere without that treated to properly", she shunned, gesturing to his new burden.

He scoffed in reply, as well as an eye roll & head shake to further show his irritation. Rouge walked over to him, lacing her arms around his back & under his right arm to carefully lead him over to portal, with the help of Omega, of course. Out the corner of his eye, though, Shadow swore he caught sight of a dark, lean figure hiding in the shadows of the ruins.


	2. Anonymous

**Play Of Shadows: Anonymous**

**Shadow's P.O.V**

I really hate Autumn. It constantly feels as if my days are just getting longer & longer, every hour dragging out behind me. Or maybe that is because I've been in seemingly endless agony the past three & a half weeks. You see, ever since I fought that Chaos-awful monster Solaris, Rouge has had an eagle-eye watch over me, making sure I don't partake in any strenuous activities that could make my wound worse, mainly dealing with one blue pest I know of… Well, I wouldn't call him a pest! I'm just going to use the term 'hedgehog'. I actually haven't seen him in a while, to be honest. Something inside of me is saying that he's avoiding me, but it's not like I even give a damn! I take a deep breath.

Moving on… For a whole two weeks I had been stuck with Rouge playing nurse, forced to live in her apartment under strict orders from the hospital I was originally stationed at. Apparently, they though I couldn't _cope_ without someone at the foot of my bed, so they personally assigned the klepto to take care of me until I got the stitches out of my side. The only good peak to my situation was that I could get some well-deserved time off work. And seeing the Commander's reaction when he discovered that he couldn't torture me for a _whole_ month; I'm pretty sure I almost laughed. I slightly smile at the memory. Somehow the most trivial of memories are the fondest.

"Shadow?~" I heard Rouge call out in her sing-song voice from down the hallway. My half-smirk turned into a frown.

"Uhhh… Yes, Rouge?" And _what _did she want _this_ time?!

"Somebody", she walked in without bothering to knock, "sent you a letter. And from the looks of it, it wasn't G.U.N." She strutted over, handed me the letter and walked out. Rolling my eyes at her usual antics (and because she forgot to shut the door again), I pulled the folded tab from the envelope and pulled a handwritten letter out of it. Which struck me as odd…

The writing was stylised and awfully fancy considering it was just a few words on a piece of paper. It was almost like someone had taken care with making this perfect. Strange…

It read:

**Shadow,**

**I hope you are resting up well and I would like for you to know that my condolences are with you. Usually, I would speak to you face-to-face, but considering the current circumstances that would not have been possible. We need to talk, and soon.**

**Time is running out for both of us and I find it necessary we speak before it is too late. And since you have been restricted to anywhere but your bed, this will be a difficult feat. I cannot just come to meet with you due to having several bounties on my tail, so we must converse at a time when it is only the two of us. When there is no one around, I will approach you…**

**Trust me when I say "This will ****not**** take long…"**

There was no name, or… I looked over the envelope. No return address either.

"Great", I mumbled unhappily, "Anonymous letters _and_ intrusion of my peace. Obviously, someone's wanting their head ripped from their body or it's to do with 'The Fate of the World'… Or it's a trap." Let's see…

1) Too much time and work to be even _slightly_ close to a prank.

2) Someone like Espio could've sent this and it really does have to do with the Earth's safety again.

3) Malicious elegance, anonymous, knows of my condition, striking at right time, no possible ways of escape, mysterious finishing and being followed by bounty hunters…

"Yep, it's a trap…" I ungraciously flopped back onto my pillow, grimacing when I hit my wound on the bedside table. Reading it over Chaos only knows how many times, I shook my head, disappointed with the amount of effort this person put in attempt of tricking me.

"I'm not falling for something like this. I mean, come on, whoever it is must've thought I was as gullible as that damn echidna…"

"Echidna?" Shock came over me fast and I hit my side again. Rouge rushed over to help me but I convinced her I was alright.

"Hang on, were you eavesdropping again?!" I growled in anger. Rouge gave me her 'You know me' look and sat at the end of my bed.

"You seriously thought I would walk away without finding out who it was. Hun, you've got to know me better than that… Now, who's the letter from and what does it say?"

"It's anonymous and clearly a trap", I replied, passing the letter over. I watched her expression change from curiosity to confusion, suspicion, back to confusion, hesitation, worry, and ending in thoughtful. "I checked the envelope and there's no return address either."

"It's really fancy too…" I nodded in response. She glanced between me and the open letter, stopping on me. "Do you know who it could be?" I shrugged.

"You're reasonably smart Rouge; is it the Doctor's writing?" She looked back to the letter.

"No. He would've used a video recording or one of those SMART Technologies' paper things. Plus, Sonic is pretty much his bounty, so that wouldn't make sense." She went into her calculating mode; the one most people don't see. "Must be other enemy's of yours. Black Doom?"

"He was destroyed along with the rest of the Black Arms and the Comet. I made sure of that."

"Metal Sonic, possibly?"

"Wasn't he destroyed by Sonic's younger self?"

"I think so… Sonic's anti, Scourge?" I looked at her like she had just grown an extra two heads.

"I don't think he's that intelligent, Rouge. If anything, it would've been a death threat spray-painted onto the side of my house."

I leaned back and closed my eyes gently, thinking it would help jog my old memories a bit. I heard Rouge gasp and I flicked my tired eyes open. She gazed over me, like she was hesitating to speak of what she had discovered.

"What if it was Mephiles?" Suddenly, I didn't feel so tired anymore. My eyes hardened and I turned my hand into a tight fist under the blankets. Images of my look-alike flashed through my mind. I tensed up, which was very painful to do in my condition. I scrunched my eyes shut from the pain, but his haunting eyes hovered in my head. It all vanished when I felt a warm hand touch my face.

"I'm ok…"

"No you're not, Shadow. And it's my fault. I'm sorry I reminded you of him, but I was just thinking of possible suspects. Everyone knows he's gone because Sonic erased him from history. It isn't him… I'm sorry."

I opened my eyes to look at her, but they closed again and my body shut down…


End file.
